New Indian Consulate chancery inaugurated in Seattle

Houston/ Seattle, Aug 26 (PTI) The new chancery of the Consulate General of India in Seattle has been inaugurated by the Ambassador of India to the US, Vinay Kwatra.

The chancery is located at 1015 2nd Avenue in the historic Federal Reserve Building, spread across the first and 11th floors. While the first floor houses the Consular Section for public services, the 11th floor accommodates the Administrative and Commercial wings, the consulate said in a press release on Tuesday.

The building, which functioned as the Seattle branch of the Federal Bank of San Francisco between 1951 and 2008, has been listed on the US National Register of Historic Places since 2013.

Tuesday's event was attended by Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson, US Senator Maria Cantwell, and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.

The establishment of the sixth Indian Consulate in the US was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2023.

The mission began operations from a temporary location in November 2023 and, since July 2024, has provided services to 23,722 applicants across nine US states -- Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska, the release said.

After the inauguration, Ambassador Kwatra interacted with members of the Indian American community, senior technology industry leaders from the Greater Seattle area, and elected officials of Washington State, including leaders of Indian-origin holding public office.

According to the website of the Indian mission in Seattle, about 4.4 million Indian Americans/Indian origin people reside in the US. Persons of Indian origin (3.18 million) constitute the third largest Asian ethnic group in the US.

Indian Americans are one of the most successful communities and excel in diverse fields, including politics. As of March 2025, there are six persons of Indian origin in the US Congress.

A 300,000-strong Indian student community contributes over USD 8 billion annually to the US economy and helps create a number of direct and indirect jobs. PTI SHK SCY SCY